Christmas Fails That Remind You That It’s The Most Chaotic Time Of The Year
The holidays are generally a happy time for many: there are lots of baked goods everywhere, you spend time with your family, and wearing a baggy sweater is considered perfectly appropriate clothing.
Things aren't always holly and jolly, though. Read on through to see some people who experienced hilarious Christmas fails that made us go "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho." You might feel a little less stressed about your own holiday after reading this.
The Wife Is Not Too Happy
Rather than putting the traditional star on top of the Christmas tree, this husband went rogue and instead decided to use this unique Die Hard decoration of John McClane jumping from the roof.
"Die Hard is a Christmas movie" has become a really popular meme over the years, with Entertainment Weekly even declaring that it's "perhaps the most American of Christmas movies ever. So this dad was perfectly justified in the choice of tree topper, even if his whole family does hate him now.
At Least No One Will Accidentally Take It At The Baggage Claim
Now that his parents have recently retired, they plan to do a lot of traveling all around the world. He decided to support their adventures by giving them this custom suitcase so he can always be there with them.
Now, when they're waiting at the luggage carousel, the task of spotting their bag will be so much easier. They can ignore the dozens and dozens of plain black suitcases and look for this ridiculous thing instead.
She's Doing Important Work
The mom who posted this photograph explained that her 22-year-old daughter had randomly asked for a label maker for Christmas. The next day, she woke up to this label on the eggnog.
We wonder if she specifically had food items in mind when she asked for a label maker or whether this was done after she had imbibed in a little too much oog noog. Either way, we appreciate her efforts.
That's What Brothers Are For
This guy explained that his brother gives him a photo-printed T-shirt with the previous year's photo on it, creating an increasing chain of shirtceptions. I can't wait for the 10th iteration.
Eventually, you're not really going to be able to see any of the images too clearly. Maybe they'll have to do an annual quilt instead, or sleeping bag or something else that can fit a whole lot of photos.
This Card Was Sent To The Wrong Address
So this card actually ended up in this person's hands by accident as the result of a wrong address on the Christmas card, but they could not be happier. It truly is a work of art. Since they posted it online, we bet there's a pretty good chance that the people in the card know about it.
Maybe the two families have even met and share Christmas dinner together now. You never know.
Her Face Says It All
We can't blame this woman for expecting something a little more personal from her boyfriend for Christmas than a pair of soccer goalie gloves and being called a keeper. It's a cute pun, but what is she supposed to do with them?
We suppose she might actually be a goalie. But if not, she could use those gloves for gardening or some other manual labor. This is not a fun gift at all.
It's The Most Stressful Time Of The Year!
This guy was at his in-laws' place for their family Christmas celebration when he got this notification on his smartwatch. Nothing like your wife's family to stress you out during the holidays!
We wonder how the family would react if he just went into a full-on meditation session at the dinner table, deep breathing and "ohms" and all. Actually, we'd pay to see that. Holiday meltdown averted, thanks to technology.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
I can't pretend that putting up and taking down decorations for all the different holidays isn't a lot of work, so I actually kind of commend this guy for taking the easy way out.
Actually, this picture shows up a lot in stories about bad neighbors, because some people evidently find it tacky to leave skeletons out in the yard all year. Those people should find a hobby to focus on.
I Mean, If There Was Anyone To Give The Mug To...
Listen: there are only so many times where a gift so perfectly fits the person you bought it for and literally only that person. An opportunity like this might never come up again.
We can't tell whether the guy is pleased with his gift or if he's holding it like "look at this... can you believe what these jerks gave me for Christmas this year?" We certainly hope it's the former.
Season's Greetings From Bridget!
Bridget had been the only single person in her family for several years, so she decided to have fun with her Christmas cards and celebrate her lack of romantic partners.
She apparently does this every year and had an amazing photo shoot with a chicken for one Christmas card. Bridget's not a failure by any means. In fact, we think that she totally wins at Christmas. You go, Bridget, be your funny self.
Was It Worth It?
I get that getting the perfect Christmas tree is important to a lot of people, but putting a hole in your roof just to keep your enormous tree seems a little too far.
The squirrels probably love it though. Now they have their own special entrance right into the house, where they can steal food and burrow into the walls and chew up the electrical wiring. Yeah, this one was a bad idea.
Well, I Doubt She Guessed Right
This guy explained that he wanted to prank his sister by wrapping it this way to keep her in the dark about what he really got her. Inside of it, there is a cardboard toilet with a makeup palette in it.
She probably wasn't all that thrilled when she saw the gift-wrapped present under the tree, but he seems like a pretty cool brother for going to this length to trick her.
Classic Dad Move
This family's mom was trying to capture the memory of her children building a snowman together on Christmas Day, but the picture was ruined by their dad nailing his one daughter in the head with a snowball, sending her falling.
It's the moments like this that you just can't plan... there's no way the intended photo would have been anywhere near this amazing. Candid photography is the best! Cut it out with the dumb poses and see what happens.
They Said CTRL+DEL The Tree
You know what's better than a traditional Christmas tree? Forgoing the whole tree part and going straight to the decorations. Jokes aside, this artistic depiction of a treeless tree looks very intricate and beautiful.
We wonder if this kind of tree would be more or less appealing to a cat? On the one hand, there's nothing to climb up. But on the other hand, there are plenty of "toy" ornaments to bat at...
She Had Us In The First Half
Not everyone has the type of Hallmark movie lifestyle that looks good on a Christmas card, so some people really have to improvise and fake it until they make it.
In our professional opinion, people who are able to laugh at themselves and their situations are awesome people. And they usually get through the tough times alright too when they turn to laughter. It really is the best medicine.
Kids, Am I Right?
Rather than try to sit the whole family down for a nice, professional photo of the family for their Christmas card, these parents leaned into the chaos of life and instead had some fun with it.
This card went viral, with headlines around the country such as "When Their Photo Shoot Failed, a Family Sent Out the Bloopers. Now, It's a Yearly Tradition." We love this tradition and are glad they're sticking to it.
Look Who's Laughing Now
For Christmas of 2019, this person was gifted an enormous roll of toilet paper as a prank present. However, when the crap really hit the fan in 2020, the gift turned out to be really useful.
We hope they held onto that giant roll just to make people jealous in their zoom calls and meetings. Surely they've had to use it by now, though, but it was an unexpectedly awesome gift.
FIRE HIM
This man had the audacity to wear this ugly Christmas sweater to his office Christmas party, bare butt out and all. I'm upset that this sweater not only exists, but that his colleagues also have to suffer.
At first, we thought that was a real dog but it's actually part of the whole crazy Christmas getup. The fake pooch is pulling down Santa's pants and the jolly guy is trying to hold them on. Was HR called on this guy?
No Tree? No Problem
This person didn't have a Christmas tree and didn't really have the budget to go out and buy one, so they decided to improvise by cleverly decorating their Danny Devito cutout.
"Frankly," we'd rather have a cutout of Danny Devito any day over a tree that was cut down and will die a sad death out on the curb after Christmas is over. At least you can display Danny all year round.
...So Not That Joyful
You know those picturesque Christmas card photos of all the kids smiling and getting along? For every shot that turns out good, there are at least four shots like this. And we love the parents who embrace these ridiculous shots over the perfect Instagram portraits that look just like everyone else's.
Yeah, technically the photo is a fail but they made the most of it and it worked. Which means its actually a win!
Well, She'll Definitely Be Surprised
The Redditor who posted this monstrosity had a great story to go with it. "I bought my wife a necklace for Christmas. The guy asked me if I would like it gift wrapped. I told him yes and asked him to make it look as horrible as possible," they wrote.
"He pulled out a roll of tape and said 'as you wish sir.'" Wow, that's customer service! We bet the wife was really surprised when she saw what was in this package.
I Can't Tell If I Love Or Hate This
On one hand, I find this human tree to be kind of hilarious, and I really do admire their teamwork. On the other hand, I think I will have nightmares about this "tree."
It's kind of like the Helping Hands from the movie Labyrinth in a weird way, just in Christmas tree form and with matching green sweatsuits and candles. We're glad this picture exists but don't want these guys in our home.
A Nice Retro Look
If you don't have a family nearby to take Christmas photos with, your furry companion will never let you down. This Christmas card with '80s vibes is basically a work of art. The woman who made it posted her creation to Reddit, where it got lots of attention.
Another user said, "If somebody told me that this picture was their mom and taken in the '80s I would believe them, because of those glasses." Totally true.
Do Not Use Chocolate Bells On Cookies
This person normally uses Hershey's Kisses on top of their cookies, but they bought the bell-shaped chocolates when the store was out of them. They didn't realize that they would look like this when they got out of the oven.
This looks more like something you'd see at a bachelor or bachelorette party than on the Christmas dinner table, if you catch our drift. Let's hope the kids didn't see these goodies.
The Tree In A House Of Paramedic Students
Working at a hospital as a nurse can be exhausting. They don't have too much time on their hands since they're busy enough at it is. So when it comes to decorating for the holidays, they have to improvise by using what's available to make a tree.
And what's something that's readily available at the hospital? That's right, gloves! Let's just hope they're the latex-free kind, we don't need anyone having an allergic reaction at Christmas.
Imagine Being On The Receiving End Of This
The person who posted this photo explained that she and her best friend get together every year to write chaotic Christmas cards and they send them off to random addresses across the country.
"The money is in a brown paper bag under the mailbox on State Street. When you get it, text me on the disposable cell phone, throw it away, and head to the airport. We're so close. Don't screw it up." I don't know about you, but I'd be intrigued to get this letter in the mail!
Being The "Mature" Brother Is The Worst
Regularly, being considered the "mature, responsible" brother is a good thing, but on Christmas, it just means that you'll receive boring gifts while your man-child brother gets a brand new Xbox.
Not that there's anything wrong with a Food Network brand set of glassware... no, that's a fine gift. But compared to an Xbox One? No way. The glasses cost a fraction of what the Xbox did, too. No fair!
A Little Morbid For The Holiday Spirit, Don't You Think?
I'm all for wrapping gifts in misleading ways to make the actual present a fun surprise for the recipient, but there is such thing as taking it too far, such as pretending Santa left a corpse under the tree.
When other people asked what the actual gift inside was, the Redditor said, "Two cast-iron skillets embedded in the chest. The rest is just for show." We're going to guess they're a lot of fun at Halloween!
It Would Have Been Better To Get Nothing At All
I have to give it to Nicole: this is such a creative and elaborate way to pretend you got someone a gift when, in reality, you totally forgot about it until it was too late.
The more I think of it, the more genius this is. You can act like you saved them all the trouble of scratching off those pesky tickets too, so now they actually owe you a favor in exchange for this cheap gift.
Grandma Thought It Was Just An Elf Puzzle
The guys who received this Yoda puzzle were thoroughly excited as Star Wars fans when their grandmother gifted it to them. However, they found out that she thought it was just a regular elf.
That makes it all the more amazing that it was actually something they really wanted. Can you imagine how they'd have reacted if it was just some random elf on the puzzle instead of Yoda himself? She did good.
That's Not An "O"
If anything, a Christmas tree looks more like the letter A than the letter O. This sweater looks like it says "Lave" more than it looks like it says “Love.”
However, there will still be plenty of shoppers who see the soft fleece, combined with the holiday print and won't be able to resist making the purchase. Or you could interrupt it as “Live” like “long live Christmas” …. no?
A Backwards Christmas
This sparkly sign is supposed to say "Christmas" but it looks more like it says “Sa Stm Chri.” Is this some new wintertime holiday that we haven't heard of yet? It may have made a little more sense if it was stacked in the opposite way, with the “chri” on top.
This just isn’t how people read the English language. They tried to create a festival window display but they just ended up creating a window of confusion.
A Strange Ornament
We're all for creativity, but when creative word placement interferes with the meaning of a sentence, we’ve got other problems. What does "at Christmas all roads home lead" mean? It sounds like something E.T. would say.
This is another decoration that might simply be overlooked for it’s Christmas colors and holly. but when you take a closer look… it just doesn’t add up. Whoever made this decoration had a little too much eggnog first.
More Clever Word Placement
The Christmas elves are back at it again with the creative word placement. It is okay to say Merry Christmas. It's not okay to write, "it’s okay merry to say Christmas." We don’t know what that means, and likely, neither do you.
Christmas bumper stickers are kind of weird, if you think about it. They only make sense for around a month of the year, and then they got out of style.
Spacing Matters
It's not just the placement of words that can have an effect on the meaning of a sentence. The space between the words is also super important. It’s the difference between "now here" and “nowhere.”
Even if they did bold the “here” it’s still too similar to the text of the “now”. We hope that this sign doesn’t discourage anyone’s beliefs. It’s really just poor sign formatting that you see here.
Little Berby Jebus
Something is very wrong with this baby Jesus ornament. It doesn't look right at all. Does it have webbed feet? This has to be sacrilegious. Why is this allowed to be sold in stores? If we didn’t know any better we would think this was a homemade ornament.
But seeing that it’s packaged just so, it’s apparent that this has been mass-produced and that is very, very unfortunate for Christmas.
Holy Typography
I get that these words are supposed to be arranged like a Christmas tree, but couldn't that look have been achieved without splitting up words? There’s a reason why this thing is 50% off.
This is similar to the saying, "measure twice, cut once." They didn’t accurately think about how this would appear when the product was finished. As you can see here, it didn’t turn out the way they probably imagined it would.
A Bad Christmas Present
This girl decided to make Christmas presents for her whole family. For some reason, she thought that putting actual Lego pieces in the soap would be a good idea. Spoiler alert: it's not.
How do you think this feels when you wash your hands? Probably the same level of comfort you experience when you step on a lego. Well we hope that someone in her family can appreciate this bar of soap with legos in it.
The Worst Wreath
This giant Christmas wreath in a mall looks like it was made out of hair that was pulled out of a shower drain. This wool material is super unsightly. What's wrong with good old evergreen twigs?
Whatever building this is would have been better off with no decorations at all. If this is what their Christmas spirit looks like, they must be the grinch. This is a decoration in terrible taste.
The Holland Tunnel Decorated For Christmas
Okay, we get the wreath over the O on the Holland Tunnel side. That one makes sense. Why isn't the tree over the A, though? And why is there another circular wreath over the U? That’s confusing.
We wonder if it was one person setting this up that overlooked it, or if there were multiple people on the job that led to this decision. Most drivers probably wouldn’t notice, except for their stopped in traffic staring at this terribly decorated sign.
Oh, Holy Ovaries
This city set up some light-up Christmas designs around high-traffic outdoor areas. For some reason, this abstract design looks a lot like the female reproductive system. Why are the ovaries blue?
Are they a pair of scissors? Is this a wand? Is this in any way related to Christmas at all? It's shiny and it’s colorful, it’s lit up like other Christmas decorations, but that doesn’t make it a Christmas decoration itself.
What Is This Supposed To Say?
This sweater is supposed to say something related to Christmas on it. We can kind of make out the word "Christmas" but we're not sure what all of the other letters are for. There are letters that are green, there are letters that are red, there are letters that are white, but this is just confusing.
There is no artistic value to this shirt whatsoever. There’s not even a picture on it.
Daddy Merman
I have never seen a Christmas ornament quite this weird looking before. Why is this merman holding a baby, and why does he have a leather belt holding up his tail? What do mermen have to do with Christmas, anyway? They've never even seen a tree before, yet here’s an ornament with a merman on it, to hang on the tree.
Maybe we could see this as a gag gift because it’s so terribly bizarre.
Simply Having A Horrifying Christmastime
I don't know if this figurine is supposed to be Santa or just a horrifying Christmas gremlin. Either way, it’s going to give me nightmares. This must be Santa’s evil twin. Not only will this scare the children, but it’s likely to get into the heads of adults as well.
It appears to be life-sized, propped against trees. You wouldn’t even know this was related to Christmas without the poinsettia and the ornaments.
Feliz D Da Navi
This sign is supposed to say "Navidad," but for some reason, whoever designed the sign thought it would look better if all of the letters were piled on top of each other. What's with all of the confusing letter displays? It seems that no one ever gets these right.
At least this display is bringing some color and light into this courtyard. But other than that, it’s not very festive when it doesn’t make sense.
This Woman Is A Teacher
This teacher put up a Merry Christmas sign in her classroom, only, the sign doesn't really say Merry Christmas. It says Merry Crsms Hita. This woman is supposed to be teaching our children how to spell.
We see that she tried to be creative and stagger the letters in the word "Christmas" but the way she arranged them doesn’t make sense. Looking above this message, it seems that printing out letters on full pieces of paper is a regular thing for this teacher.
Water And Electricity Don't Mix
Somebody decided to put up electrical Christmas lights right above a working fountain, and yes, the water from the fountain does touch the lights. Let's just hope that nobody gets close to that fountain.
The last thing that the town’s circle needs is some real-life shooting stars during Christmas. We’re sure whoever strung these star decorations had good intentions, but they just didn’t think this one all of the way through.
A Beard Full Of Lost Souls
If you look closely at the Santa mural that's painted on this wall in a shopping mall, you’ll notice that his beard isn’t solid white. In fact. it’s full of strange, humanoid figures. Although some of them are posing like happy children, others look rather ghostly.
Santa is already mysterious enough, now we’re planting ideas in our children’s heads of Santa being in charge of the spirits, too? That’s just too much.
Santa Can't Make Up His Mind
With arrows pointing all over the place like this, how is Santa supposed to know where he's supposed to stop? This sign is just plain confusing. Let Santa do his job in peace.
The last thing that we want is for Santa to crash his sleigh and ruin Christmas for everyone. He’s got a big job and if you’re on the list, he’ll get to you. He already knows where he’s going.
Why Are His Eyelashes In His Eyes?
There's something not quite right about this Santa plushie. Shouldn’t his eyelashes be coming from his eyelids and not his actual pupils? Now it looks like he has spiders in his eyes.
This Santa does not look happy or healthy at all. How could this facial detail be overlooked? We have a feeling that not many of these Santa’s will sell this year. We’d rather not creep out the kids.
Something Is Wrong With That Baby
Why is this Santa figurine carrying around a baby in his sack? Maybe it's supposed to be a doll or something? Still, I’m getting a bad feeling about this whole situation. The whole scene here doesn’t look so merry, if you know what we’re saying. Even Santa looks a little concerned.
Still, someone ended up with this strange Santa ornament and snapped a picture of it on their kitchen table. Now, what are they going to do with it?
They Didn't Think This Through
When this mall decided to bring in a giant, blow-up Santa for the holiday season, they really should have paid more attention to where the entrance of the Santa was going to be. We're used to sitting on Santa’s lap, but walking through his body and coming out under his legs?
That’s just not in the storybook. Seeing as there is only one guy in the picture, and mall Santa lines are usually packed to the gills, we’d say this display isn’t a winner.
He Sees You When You're Sleeping
They probably should have chosen a toy that doesn't double as a weapon for this scene. I get that it’s an NHL product, but why didn’t they just have to boy opening the hockey stick on Christmas morning? This is so creepy.
Here the kid is asleep in an armchair, in the safety of his own home. But the thing about Santa Claus is that he gets special access to the house. And here he comes in, sizing up a hockey stick to little Jimmy’s face. Real nice, Santa.
Look Out, Grandma!
This advertisement is informing people that a new, sharp, Japanese knife is the best Christmas gift for their loved ones. I just don't think that came across in their choice of images. The woman’s expression was intended to be excitement, but could easily be perceived as fear.
She’s making direct eye contact with the knife, while her husband kisses her on the cheek. The tagline assures the shopper that this knife is specifically the best "for your loved one!"
Light-Up Christmas
When Walmart chose to have this "light up Christmas" slogan all over their store, they should have thought about how it would look above a display of gas cans. Don't literally light up Christmas, people.
We’re sure that this Walmart sign was intended to be displayed above the Christmas lights, but instead, found its way over to the auto aisle. Now it’s just a lawsuit waiting to happen. Someone is about to get fired… get it?
A Luminous Clothesline
This city also decided to set up some public Christmas decorations, only, instead of a reproductive system, these lights look like giant pairs of women's underwear hung up to dry. Every 15 feet, there’s another hanging display of panties. You just can’t get around them– they’re on the main drag!
We’re not sure if the light strings were cut at the wrong angle or what, because we’ve never laid eyes on something like this before.
A Bunch Of Letters
I know that this is supposed to say "happy holidays," but it would be a lot easier to figure that out if these letters were arranged in a logical way. Especially after you've had a couple of holiday cocktails, this mixed up sign will just send you over the edge.
“Is it just me or the sign?” you’d probably second guess yourself, since this is displayed in a main foot traffic area, wishing all happy holidays.
Sliding Into Christmas Like…
Whoever designed this Santa slide should have really reconsidered the placement of the actual slide. Could the slide not be in his sled or something? Really, this could not look more wrong.
Santa looks like he's relieving himself. Meanwhile, from the kids’ view coming down the slide, they have no idea just what scene they’re sliding into. This is a fail on a massive sized scale. Can’t wait to come back next year.
Mebby Christmas
I know this sign is supposed to say "Merry Christmas" because I have a brain and that's what people say on Christmas, but it really does look like it says “Mebby Christmas.” The effort is here, but the execution needs work.
Although they needed the 's’ and the ‘t’ to connect to the ‘merry’ in order to hold it all together, it still would have worked if they had dropped the letters down another half inch.
A Christmas Coke
The Santa Claus on this Christmas bottle of Coca Cola looks more like a white ink smudge than old Saint Nick. Coca Cola is a huge company. They could have done better than this, but they didn't.
The Coca Cola bears are arguably more popular for the brand during winter than Santa Claus is, which is saying a lot. Who can resist the sweet polar bears sliding around on the ice?
